By Alex Yomah & Fatu S Sambola [Internews intern]
The excruciating cost of petroleum on the Liberian market has left commercial drivers with no alternative but to hike transportation prices arbitrarily amidst the government’s claims that all essential commodities are affordable on the market.
From Statistics displayed early this week to this paper, a gallon of gasoline which was sold for LD800 is now sold for between LD 1,200-LD 1,300 at some gas stations thereby creating room for the rapid swelling of petroleum products in the country.
Some commercial drivers who spoke to our reporters said that the current pump price at filling stations is causing confusion in the traffic between them and their passengers.
They argued that passengers apparently do not know the current price of the petroleum or have become more confused because of government’s release and as a result there are always brawls whenever drivers charge transportation fares to take them to their various destinations.
“The price of petroleum products began skyrocketing at the start of the Russian-Ukraine crisis and to date, gasoline does not have any stable price on the Liberian market,” a rather frustrated driver explained.
However, some local dealers who sell to the end-users accused the importers of being dishonest about their demands.
The local dealers claimed that the shortage of the petroleum on the market is artificial and a conspiracy by importers who they believe can use their connections and influence on some big-shots in government to increase the prices of gas and fuel.
According to our investigative reporter, the unprecedented increase of the price of petroleum on the Liberian market has led to the escalating of the price of transportation fares in the country, as taxi drivers, motorcyclists and Kekeh riders have all increased the price of transportation from one place to another, taking into account the long queues at various gas stations.
Speaking to these reporters, a taxi driver who was seen in a rather furious mood arguing with a passenger over the refusal of the passenger to pay the current unspecified fare, did not go down well with the taxi driver which almost led to a fist fight between the driver and the passenger.
Pa Abraham Kollie, a Kekeh driver also narrated frustration, saying, “We buy gas above the original price, so to run this Kehkeh, we need to increase our fares as well in order to sustain ourselves.”
“David Washington, a motorcyclist also said, “We do not wish to increase transportation fares, but the gas prices have gone skyrocketed, so we have to increase the fares to accrue profit for ourselves,” he intimated. He then called on the Liberian government to help reduce the noise in the traffic between commuters and commercial drivers.
Barely a week after the Liberian government, through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) assured the public its commitment to ensuring that essential commodities are available and affordable on the local market, the Petroleum Importers Association of Liberia has said the contrary.
Meanwhile, during the weekend, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a press statement under the signature of its communication Director, Jacob Parley, indicating that the Ministry continues to work along with importers of petroleum products to ensure that there is sufficient stock in the country to serve the market for the next couple of months.
Contrary to the government’s statement, a press release from the Petroleum Importers Association of Liberia said there is an increase in the petroleum product by USD 1 with immediate effect.
“We are pleased to draw the attention of the government and people of Liberia to the increase in world market prices and Premiums on Petroleum products due to the Russian- Ukraine crisis,” the Press statement indicated.
“This has increased our cost by about $1 on both diesel and gasoline as the petroleum products are priced daily based on the world market price movements,” the release added.
“This is beyond the control of any government and the importers. The current prices set by the government therefore put us in losses which are not sustainable and could lead into bankruptcy of our companies,” the release noted.
In addition, amidst the current scarcity of petroleum products on the world market, there is limited amount of stocks in the country and “We need to procure stocks in time to have products readily available on the Liberian market. We therefore call on the government to address this situation in the soonest possible time,” the release concluded.
Investigation on the news desk of this paper showed that attempts made by the Executive branch of government to have the petroleum products reduced did not materialize.
Report has it that the United States of America is moving to endorse the hasty increment of the petroleum products in the world in a short period which among other things, came from the Ukraine and Russia crisis.
